Nie Chongyang analyzed, "The known meanings of the ruby pendant are few, and the possible interpretations are countable on ten fingers."
"First, naturally, is the value represented by the ruby pendant itself. Lin Yanqin admitted that her ruby pendant is very precious and expensive."
Ye Tiancheng shook his head and said, "However, I personally believe the possibility of this meaning is not high. This incident is unlikely to be for the sake of wealth."
"Especially when you've determined that Lin Yanqin likely has something to hide and knows who took the ruby pendant."
The little fox nodded thoughtfully and interjected, "Another meaning is also very obvious. Lin Yanqin should not have lacked treasures since childhood, but the reason she cherishes this ruby pendant so much is that it is the only遗物 (yíwù - relic/keepsake) left by her mother."
He spoke, appearing somewhat hesitant.
"However... if we consider this meaning, then only three people would care about this pendant. But Lin Yanqin is already one of them. The other two can only be her two brothers. They wouldn't do such a thing, would they?"
"Even though it's the only遗物 left by their mother, giving it to their sister is not impossible. Even if they wanted to remember their mother, it would be somewhat strange for a man to wear such a ruby pendant."
"Moreover, if they truly wanted their mother's遗物, when they sent their mother back overseas for burial and returned her soul to her homeland, couldn't each of the three siblings keep one item? Why wait until now to fight over a gemstone pendant?"
"Furthermore, no matter how important their mother's遗物 is, if the brother wanted to keep it to remember their mother and asked his sister for it, as a sister, Lin Yanqin should not have refused, right?"
After hearing this, Ye Tiancheng suddenly had some thoughts.
He suddenly said, "That's not necessarily true."
The little fox looked at Ye Tiancheng in confusion, "Hmm? Is there something I haven't considered?"
Ye Tiancheng immediately replied, "Considering the ruby pendant as the遗物 of Lin Yanqin's mother, it may not necessarily mean it holds precious value only for Lin Yanqin's three children."
The little fox was slightly taken aback.
Ye Tiancheng continued, "The Lin family has such a vast fortune, it's likely many people would covet it. Lin Yanqin's mother's background should not be a secret. Lin Yanqin's father's ability to grow the family business must, to some extent, be due to Lin Yanqin's mother's contributions."
"Therefore, Lin Yanqin's family background can be imagined."
"Many people, unable to covet the Lin family's fortune, later, after Lin Yanqin's mother died, were sent back overseas for burial by her children. Along with the ruby pendant, which was taken out as a遗物 for the children to cherish, all of Lin Yanqin's mother's belongings were buried with her."
"There are many people who are not particular. Don't you think the inheritance buried in the earth might also be coveted?"
"Lin Yanqin's mother came from such a good family. The value of her belongings buried with her coffin can only be imagined, right?"
The little fox's brow furrowed tightly. He still spoke with some confusion, "But... even if Lin Yanqin's mother's coffin might contain very precious burial items, why would they target Lin Yanqin's ruby pendant instead of searching for where Lin Yanqin's mother is buried?"
"And if that's the case, what is Lin Yanqin hiding?"
"Could it be that the ruby pendant contains a treasure map... No, it shouldn't, right?" The little fox's voice suddenly stopped.
It's unlikely, right?
To use their mother's burial place as a treasure location, and then leave a treasure map in the only遗物 left behind?
What kind of child is so "filial" and capable of doing such a thing?
This is a natural enemy, born with a grudge, someone who comes for revenge would do something like this, right?
Ye Tiancheng couldn't help but cough twice.
"It might not be that exaggerated, but I think outsiders might think so."
"Moreover, we should also consider other situations. The matter Lin Yanqin is hiding, the person she is protecting, and the loss of the ruby pendant, who it was lost to, and why Lin Yanqin disappeared seven days later..."
"These events might be the result of different incidents colliding, which is also unknown."
The little fox clicked his tongue slightly, "It's so complicated..."
Nie Chongyang somewhat agreed with Ye Tiancheng's view. He said, "Lin Yanqin's special situation is the result of multiple events converging and colliding. This possibility is very high."
Liang Ping also nodded.
"Perhaps, the clues Lin Yanqin is hiding, and the person she is protecting, might not be the sole target. The person who wants to take the ruby pendant might not be from just one side."
"And if we assume that there is more than one party wanting to obtain the ruby pendant, then the possibility of Lin Yanqin actually being harmed seven days later becomes extremely high."
Nie Chongyang rubbed his fingers and sighed, "We need to race against time. Even though we know this happened a hundred years ago, and even if we exert all our strength now, we can't change anything. However, it's best for us to sort out the events within seven days."
"Otherwise... we might have to come back in a month."
The little fox said with a headache, "Don't jinx it. If one thing takes a month to resolve, then being trapped here for a hundred years might seem reasonable."
Nie Chongyang quickly shook his head upon hearing this.
"Let's not do that. Let's think positively. We will definitely resolve this within seven days, and not drag it into the next month."
Although Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping could afford to wait another month, if each matter took a month to resolve, it was hard to say how long it would take to get out.
Even Ye Tiancheng and the little fox could not accept being perpetually trapped here and unable to leave.
Ye Tiancheng needed to save Hou Mingzhu, to allow his daughter to return to a normal life, to repair the Fuxi Qin, to restore the Pure Land, and to return the outside world to normal. How could he possibly have so much time to waste?
After discussing Lin Yanqin's situation, Nie Chongyang and the others suddenly remembered that Ye Tiancheng and the little fox had been chatting privately earlier and then reacted with unusual anger. Ye Tiancheng had not yet provided an explanation.
Nie Chongyang asked Ye Tiancheng, "By the way, when we were still in Lin Yanqin's room, Ye Tiancheng, what were you and the little fox talking about that suddenly made you so angry? Did you discover something that made you so upset?"
Upon hearing Nie Chongyang mention this, Ye Tiancheng was reminded of what the little fox had deduced earlier. The thought of it made him genuinely angry again.
"Even if you hear about this, your reaction won't be any better than mine," he said.
Then, Ye Tiancheng roughly explained the little fox's previous deductions to Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping. As expected, anyone with a normal mind would feel indignant and furious upon hearing such a thing.
The few of them cursed a few times, but they also knew that a few meaningless curses wouldn't help. They couldn't resolve this matter for the moment, so they could only put it aside.
However, Ye Tiancheng pondered for a moment and said, "The little fox greatly needs the help of residual souls. Our subsequent actions, when you think about it carefully, are undoubtedly helping the little fox snatch food from the mouth of the entity behind Xiaojingshi. I wonder if it will be easily discovered."
The little fox muttered beside him, "Whether it's discovered or not, if we snatch too much, it will definitely be discovered eventually."
Ye Tiancheng shivered.
"Then let's hope we can escape. Let's say something auspicious, we will definitely escape."
Snatching food from a tiger's mouth is risky, but they had no other choice.
Ye Tiancheng couldn't imagine when he would have such a good opportunity again. If he didn't seize this chance, he wouldn't have another.
Ye Tiancheng and the others went in circles, discussing so much, and finally returned to the main issue. Lin Yanqin's matter was undoubtedly difficult to resolve, especially with Lin Yanqin intentionally concealing information, which only added to the difficulty for Ye Tiancheng and the others.
They also needed to discuss how to proceed better.
As they were discussing, their room door was suddenly knocked upon.
The discussion inside the room stopped, and the four looked at each other. Ye Tiancheng raised his voice towards the door and asked, "Who is it?"
The voice of the innkeeper sounded from outside the door.
"It's me, coming to bring you some food. I saw you haven't eaten and haven't gone to the cafeteria."
Ye Tiancheng and the other three were stunned. The psychological shadow of the night made their first reaction to glance out the window, confirming that it wasn't dark yet.
The little fox guessed, "It should indeed be the innkeeper."
Nie Chongyang assessed the risk and said, "Even if it's not, it shouldn't be too much of a problem. It's broad daylight now, and we should be able to handle the other person."
Ye Tiancheng said, "That's right, little fox, follow me."
Saying this, Ye Tiancheng got up and went to the room door to open it.
The little fox trailed behind Ye Tiancheng, holding a stack of talismans. If the situation turned bad, he would slap it on the intruder's forehead. Of course, if there was no trouble, that would be even better. Their current conditions were too rudimentary, and the little fox was reluctant to waste good things.
These were all supplies he had stored in his spatial dimension.
The little fox was reluctant to use them even when dealing with the non-human entities rampaging outside at night.
Ye Tiancheng opened the room door. The innkeeper was indeed standing at their room door, holding a large food container. Ye Tiancheng and the little fox both examined him carefully. The little fox retracted his talismans and gestured back into the room.
The alert was lifted.
Ye Tiancheng took the large food container from the innkeeper's hand and said, "Thank you."
After saying this, he intended to take the food and close the door to return to the room, but the innkeeper took the opportunity to squeeze into the door crack, as if wanting to come in.
Ye Tiancheng also blocked the doorway, allowing the innkeeper to only squeeze half of his body through, but the person couldn't actually enter the room.
He asked the innkeeper, "What do you want?"
The innkeeper immediately raised his hands, indicating he had no ill intentions, mainly fearing being beaten by Ye Tiancheng.
Then, the innkeeper said, "You went with that Lin Yanqin during the day, didn't you? I just wanted to come and ask if you've been able to investigate anything."
"I'm... providing you with information and actively bringing you food. My attitude is good enough, right? If you've found anything, can I hear about it?"
Ye Tiancheng's gaze was cold as he looked at the innkeeper.
He said, "Information exchange is a transaction. We agreed that the condition was to take you out, and that definitely won't happen so quickly. Besides, regarding Lin Yanqin's matter, it's only the first day and not even over yet. What can be investigated?"
"You've been here for so long without any results, and we certainly don't have any particularly useful clues."
Ye Tiancheng was reluctant to let this innkeeper in.
Agreeing to take the person out was one thing, but the prerequisite was that he must be a human.